And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
(John 14:16-18 NKJ)

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Feed Me! Feed ME!

Here are some photos of some baby grackles that were in a nest in a tree that I pruned and cleaned earlier this year.

These little baby birds stand as an example of all of creation since the fall of man into sin. Since Adam chose to invent the notion of free will, which is nothing more than rebellion against God’s declared will, this is the way of the world. Me! ME! ME!!

These little baby birdies exemplify the selfishness that rules over us and over all of creation since that day that Adam decided that he could rise up for himself rather than trusting the goodness of the Lord.

They care not for their siblings. “Feed me!” “Feed ME!” “Feed ME!!” They each care only for self, jumping at the slightest vibration, striving to rise up above one another to be the one to receive the food that the parents carry to the nest.

Until the Holy Spirit intervenes, coming to us in our baptism to regenerate us from above, we are just like these little birdies. “Me. Me! ME!!”

Entirely contrary to what so-called naturalists and environmentalists and scientists try to convince us, this way is not at all natural. This is not the way that the Lord ordained for His creation. This is what man caused through his imaginary free will. Tempted by the devil to imagine that choosing for himself was better than trusting the good that the Lord had established and declared, Adam brought death and all of the unnatural daily consequences of death to the world. All of creation moans and groans under this burden.

Yet the Lord reacted in a way that is very foreign to our ways. He overturned the destruction that Adam imposed upon us. While the Lord most assuredly is angry over the sin that Adam chose for us, the way of death and destruction that the devil tricked the first two humans to accept and choose for themselves and all future generations, wrath is not the Lord’s primary reaction. His wrath is actually His secondary response.

His first and primary response is to look upon us with love and mercy. His wrath is displayed so that we may be made aware of what our rebellion causes. Much like a loving parent will spank a young child so as to steer their beloved child away from things that are harmful, so God uses His displays of wrath to make us aware that we need to hear Him and be restored by Him to the way of everlasting safety. Love is the true attitude of God toward us, even in His displays of wrath.

At the Last Day, those who have refused to hear and be turned will be sent away from God’s presence. Their belligerent choice to be separated from the Lord will be enacted fully. Since all of God’s loving acts to call them into His repentance were ignored and defied, they shall finally receive the wrath that has been stored up for the devil and all who follow him. They shall be sent off to the place where they will be confined together forever. Then they will bring upon themselves the fullness of what the Lord lovingly and mercifully limited during the present age. All of the evil that they hold in their hearts will become fully manifest and the terror that God has prevented, they will unleash on one another forevermore.

Yet these little birdies also display something of value. While they do display selfishness, nevertheless they also remind us of our absolute dependence upon our heavenly Father for all good things. While we should not be like the birdies in striving to rise up above one another but should trust that the Lord knows our needs and will provide for us fully in the appropriate time, yet we can learn from the birdies that we should indeed look up and cry out to the Lord for our every need. Such trust will never leave us disappointed.

Here is another photo, a photo of a tiny little bunny that scooted in front of me where I park my work truck. (Click photo for larger view.)

This little bunny was almost 4 inches long. It had not yet learned to hop but simply scurried as quickly as its little bitty legs would carry it. This little one also reminds us of our dependence upon the Lord. We are just little babes who need His continual care. He treasures us and wants good things for us. When we look to Him in faith, we see this.

3 comments:

Gary Cepek
said...

Thanks for the devotional writing. The tensions which exist between our sinfulness and God's grace to us in Christ are wonderfully managed by Him to our good. God grant His people ears to hear what He says, and a faith to reject what the flesh thinks and says in response to The LORD's ways. Gary Cepek

About Me

I am an Evangelical Lutheran pastor who earns his living as an arborist. I own my own small tree company, All Tree, and operate in Wichita, KS. I list Arborist before Pastor under Occupation because I earn my living as an arborist but my vocation is that of Pastor. I am an arborist because I take care of trees, but I am a pastor because proclaiming the Gospel of Christ crucified is my life. I can choose to stop trimming trees, but to stop proclaiming the Gospel would be to stop breathing.
Web sites for business and congregation are:
[All Tree];
[Bride of Christ ELC]